Unintentional Knight in Shining Armor
by clearmind-clearheart
Summary: Kanda noticed Allen the first day he came into the coffee shop- though he looked like a high schooler, he was definitely in college. As evident by his late nights working in the cafe. Like tonight, when he just wasn't leaving and Kanda had to be the one to kick him out. But of course, it wouldn't be that easy. For DGMfanworks2K17


DGMFanworks2K17 held by KittyBandit

 **Thursday June 15, 2017**

 _AU_

Kanda Yuu noticed him the first day he came into the coffee shop. Hard not too, with the white hair that defied his real age, and those shocking silver eyes. But it was his attitude that caught the ponytailed martial artist's attention; he was polite, far too polite for a 20th century college cafe. It was like he had been transplanted from a Victorian novel into a new age and had no idea how to interact with others casually.

It was no wonder that Lavi took to him right away; with that attitude and the striking features, he was the red-head's type. Add in his ignorance and it became a game of sorts to see how red Lavi could make him with innuendos and flirting in the five minutes it took to get his order.

With all that, it took most of Kanda's concentration to ignore the kid. It certainly wasn't as easy to overlook him as it was to disregard all the other annoying customers who came in. He had a favorite seat and he would people watch, singing absently under his breath as he did. Or he'd be working on his homework with his music so loud Kanda could hear it while bussing nearby tables. Such an eclectic mix of music too; classical, to rock, to punk, seemed opposite of his mood half the time, and the other half it fit his mood perfectly.

Funny enough Kanda argued with the kid every time he came up to the counter. Allen Walker was a beansprout, and a fake one, all his politeness rubbed him the wrong way. So, Kanda made Lavi deal with the kid when he could even if all the blatant flirting annoyed the hell out of him. Because when they had to interact Kanda Yuu didn't bother being polite back. The beansprout could throw a fit all he wanted, maybe he would stop coming here and Kanda wouldn't have to see his face anymore. It's not like they were in similar classes after all, the kid being two years his junior.

But Allen never did stop coming.

Which led to the current problem. Kanda had been cleaning up since the café closed at 11, and kicking people out for the past 15 minutes. But that beansprout hadn't heard him a single time he had gone by, so he resorted to slamming his hands on the table to get his attention. Beyond the initial startled jump, the only hint the boy noticed his visitor was when he pulled back his headphones and let them settle around his neck absent-mindedly.

"Oh hi Kanda, did you need something?" Allen asked, unfailingly polite as always; though for once he wasn't even making an effort to look at the person he was speaking to, as he continued to tap away at the keys of his laptop.

"Did you not hear me, it's closing time so get out." Kanda snapped, straightening up and crossing his arms with a scowl. As if it wasn't bad enough taking over the closing shift at the last minute for the baka usagi, Kanda hated having to interact with customers anymore than strictly necessary. And this was definitely more than necessary.

"No, no way," the white-haired kid froze, wide silver eyes met sapphire, and it seemed the kid was finally paying attention to him, "it can't be closing time, I'm not done yet."

He was surprisingly panicked for a kid just working on a mid-term. It was only school work, he didn't need to get so worked up about it.

"Well, you'll have to finish at the library moyashi, you can't stay here." The older boy began tapping a foot on the ground impatiently. He hated it when people did that, like his foster brother Daisya, but Walker brought out the worse in him, always pissing him off.

"The library is already closed for the holiday." Frantically clicking through his screens the white-haired kid glanced at the time on his phone. " _Merda_." Even frazzled he was trying to avoid swearing openly. It was kind of endearing.

Oh God, endearing, what the hell was Kanda thinking.

Quickly banishing the thought from his head the taller boy leaned over the table with a glare, "I don't care where you go beansprout," Kanda said

'For the last time, it's Allen," Allen began to interrupt indignantly but Kanda talked over him,

"Just get your stuff off the table so I can finish cleaning up."

This brought the younger boys complaints to a halt as he glanced around and realized that all the chairs were up and the café was empty but for the two of them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm in your way I didn't realize." Allen rambled as he began haphazardly gathering his stuff together with repeated frantic glances at the time on his phone.

"Yah, well, just get out of my way so I can get out of here" Kanda grumbled, turning to grab the broom from where he lent it.

"I heard you the first time Bakanda." The beansprout must have thought he wouldn't hear the muttering, but the samurai-wanna-be did, and he was not in the mood for the younger boy's sass.

"No you didn't hear me the first time which is why I'm kicking you out now, and not when the rest of the people left 20 minutes ago." He bit back

Allen's answer was to slam his chair in with a childishly droned, "Well _sorry_ for actually concentrating on my work."

Thrown off by the fact that there was no venom in the words, Kanda turned back from flipping some chairs up to see the moyashi wiping the back of his hand under his eye, bent over his bag.

Seriously? Uncomfortable, the ponytailed martial artist stared as the younger as he hooked his bag over his shoulder and started for the door, trying to think of some way to rectify this. If Lavi heard that he'd made the younger student cry, even indirectly, then Kanda would never hear the end of it.

Not to mention he could lose his semi-amiable relationship with the scarred student– he was at least a customer Kanda could deal with. But mostly because Lavi would bug him for eternity if he didn't do something.

"Moyashi." The quickly spoken nickname drew an irate gaze his way as the younger stopped, hand on the door. "Do you need a ride?" the elder asked curtly. Lavi had often cut off early to give the moyashi a ride, so it wasn't a far cry to assume he would need one tonight too.

Definitely surprised by the offer it took the shorter boy a moment to respond, "Ah no. Thanks." He added uncertainly, fidgeting with the strap of his bag. Lips part to speak before abruptly shutting again as silver eyes met sapphire, and both were stuck in that gaze for a moment, one searching and the other not sure what was being sought or what was being reflected, but sure it was dragging on far too long. At length there was a slightly forced, but still amiable, "Night Kanda." Then the boy was gone, the bell over the door tinkling with his departure.

Not sure why he felt so annoyed that his offer was rejected, Kanda shrugged off the whole exchange and focused instead on finishing the clean-up. When he emerged from the café into the chill air only a few minutes after 11, he was distracted from locking the door by an odd clicking noise. Dismissing it at first he reached inside the door and flipped off the last of the lights, but was halted by a strange glow from the edge of his sight.

Flicking the lights back on the long haired boy turned to find the moyashi hunkered down on the curb, leaning over his laptop, looking up to meet Kanda's raised eyebrow with an expression like a deer caught in headlights.

"What the hell Moyashi." Kanda finally bit out in a carefully controlled voice, trying not to flip out on the younger boy.

"It's due at midnight, ok," Allen grumpily snapped back, eyes narrowing at the elder before abruptly turning back to his laptop. "I've got less than an hour left and it will take me that long to walk back."

"So rather than graciously accepting a ride," Kanda began complaining, "you're going to sit out here in the dark with no internet-"

"No internet!" Allen clicked frantically at his touch pad, groaning when his monitor confirmed Kanda's words. "Damn it." He swore between clenched teeth.

His voice sounded off and rather than wait for the younger to break down, Kanda spoke up in his usual straightforward fashion. "Oi, moyashi, you better not be fucking crying outside my store."

There was a hitch of breath that could have been a laugh, "It's not yours, it's Komui's." Allen pointed out, not so discreetly wiping at the corner of his eyes.

"It's mine if that idiot continues to screw up all the orders." Kanda groused, which earned him another huff of a laugh.

Shifting on his feet Kanda kept his eyes on the younger student, an inquisitive scowl crossing his lips as he couldn't help but notice how the glare of the screen was emphasizing the bags under his eyes. Did this kid never sleep or something? Was it safe for him to be walking home this tired, this late at night?

In the silence Allen's head dropped, hands tightening their grip on his laptop, "I'm so screwed." He said with a mirthless chuckle, eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"It's one assignment moyashi, you'll live." Kanda chided, and was taken aback by the suddenly sharp glare the younger shot his way.

"You don't-" Allen began, voice rising, but abruptly cutting himself off he looked away, taking a shaky breath in, "Just, leave me alone bakanda." He said in a defeated tone, gaze returning to his laptop.

And though Kanda swore to himself that it was only because the other was so pathetic and obviously in need of help, he knew his next actions weren't out of obligation, but concern.

"All right, enough of this." Kanda took two steps around Allen and snagged his backpack off the ground. "Get your ass up." He commanded as he started towards his car.

"Hey, Kanda, what are you-" the question cut off with a low curse drawing the elders attention over his shoulder to see the beansprout fumbling his laptop as he scrambled to his feet.

"I'm giving you a ride home." Was the simple explanation the dark haired boy gave as he heard footsteps drawing closer.

"I don't need a ride Kanda." Allen insisted, making a grab for his bag, but Kanda easily held it out of his reach.

"The usagi is always giving you a ride, and you said it would take you an hour to walk there, so yes, you do need a ride." Was the elders reasoning as he pulled his keys from his pocket and clicked the unlock on his car remote. "So get in."

"No." the growled response grated on Kanda's ears, and he turned and met silver eyes with a glare.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"I've already had a shitty enough week and I don't need this Kanda, so give me my bag and leave me alone." Allen held out a hand expectantly, but Kanda made no move to acquiesce to his request.

"Do you always spit so easily on people trying to help you." He inquired coolly.

Allen faltered for a moment, looking down, but his eyes seem to light on his laptop and suddenly that gaze was back, strangely desperate but cold at the same time.

"You know nothing about me Kanda."

"I know you are completely fake moyashi, and you piss me off. That's all I need to know."

"Then why the fuck won't you leave me alone." Allen fumed, free hand clenching into a fist in his anger.

"Cause you look so pathetic even I can't ignore it." He said acrimoniously.

For a moment, Allen looked like he was either going to start screaming or stomp off, but then he took a breath, eyes opening and closing from livid to dead. Holding out his hand again Allen said "Just forget it and give me back my bag please." His tone wasn't even matter of fact or stressed anymore, it was empty, dead, emotionless.

"Jeez you are a walking teenage novel." Kanda capitulated after a moment of staring in disbelief at the boy before him. Slowly the gloved hand falls back to his side, head tilting in perplexed examination.

"What would you know about teenage novels Bakanda?" was the nonplussed reply, silver eyes studying the older student in an attempt to follow his train of thought. Which was nigh impossible because Kanda didn't even know what he was thinking right now.

"A lot, since I'm a lit major." He answered absently, fiddling with his keys for a moment.

"Lit major? Seriously?" Allen queried, but Kanda didn't deem this with an answer, instead he pushed past the white-haired boy, heading back to the storefront. "Wait, what, Kanda?"

"Come on." was his only reply.

Komui would probably nag him for this, but another hour of electricity wasn't going to rob the coffers as Lavi would say. And now he just used one of Lavi's stupid phrases. He was officially insane now.

There was no sound of movement behind him but Kanda figured the younger would get over his confusion soon enough and follow after him.

"I swear, what lengths am I gonna go for this kid." He muttered to himself. The bell over the door jingled as he pushed his way in, swiftly making his way towards the back room, switching on the lights as he went.

After flipping the internet box on he made his way back to the main room to find Allen tentatively pushing in the front door. "Kanda?" he asked, looking confused and lost. The older boy figured it would take too long to explain so he went to Allen's usual table and proceeded to pull the chairs off, depositing the scarred boy's bag in its usual spot before turning.

Still standing by the door, Allen looked from Kanda to his bag and back.

Glancing pointedly at his watch he explained shortly "You have 40 minutes." Before disappearing into the back room.

It wasn't until he heard the clacking of keys that Kanda poked his head back out to confirm that Allen had gone right back to work. Following that he spent the next hour and 20 minutes cleaning machines, reviewing stock, and organizing the merchandise. Anything to keep his mind occupied and off the problem in the next room. Thus, it wasn't until after midnight that he realized he had been hearing an odd sound out in the café for the past half hour.

Scowling at himself for losing track of time, Kanda emerged from the back room to find the white-haired boy with his head on the table, snoring loudly.

Soundlessly the elder boy crossed the room and stepped up to the table, gazing down at the younger. He was lying on his arms, half on and half off his laptop, hair fluttering with each exhale of his breath. Relaxed as he was it was easy to see the beauty in the other's feminine features, the smooth line of his jaw, long pale lashes, sculpted eyebrows, the thin line of his chapped lips…he could understand why the red head was fascinated by this boy; he was an ethereal creature.

Even faced with this beauty, Kanda was drawn to the flaws that marred the others skin. This was the closest Kanda had gotten to his scar- with his eyes closed he could see the faint line of red over the lid of his left eye that connected the red marks above and below it. With the lightest touch he could manage, the martial artist brushed aside white bangs to gaze at the upside down pentacle etched into the others forehead. Sapphire eyes narrowed in contemplation, Kanda lightly traced the scar with the tips of his fingers. It was unnatural how red the scar was, and how smooth it was beneath his touch.

A sudden shift of the skin had Kanda snatching his hand back, straightening up so fast his bones cracked; what the hell had he been doing?

Sharp eyes follow each breath and subtle twitch until he can assure himself that Allen hadn't awoken. Really, he had practically molested the younger boy in his sleep, what was wrong with him?

Skirting around the sleeping boy Kanda poked at the touch pad of the laptop until the screen woke up. Seeing the sent confirmation on the email webpage Kanda moved to close the laptop but paused, the word 'last chance' jumping out at him. A quick glance showed the sprout was still asleep so Kanda tilted the screen back a bit more, thumbing up the page to the top of the short email chain. Most of it was requests for deadline extensions, with no explanations, but the one before last was the phrase that had caught the elder's attention. The professor was scolding Allen for lack of commitment to his education and stating that the next late assignment would equal a failing grade for the course.

Guess that explained Allen's insistence on getting the assignment in on time. But what was with all these late assignments? Whenever the younger was at the coffee shop he never stopped working. And Kanda knew he was doing homework because occasionally Lenalee would join the younger, since they shared a few courses, and she always mentioned how diligent and helpful Allen was.

Suddenly he froze as the younger boy shifted beside him, head turning and nuzzling the crook of his elbow as he breathed out a sigh, breath heated against the skin of Kanda's hand on the keyboard. Carefully, quietly, he extracted himself from the precarious position, holding his breath until he was sure the other wasn't waking up.

Twice. It was bad enough losing control once and overstepping boundaries, but twice? Why the hell had he just gone snooping through Allen Walker's emails? What did he care whether the younger finished his assignment or not?

Shaking those thoughts from his head Kanda proceeded to the back room to grab his things and shut down the internet. He would try and figure this out after he got Allen home. Or he could just not think about it again, that was also an option he was greatly considering.

Emerging from the backroom Kanda hoped to see Allen awake, but he was still resting with his arm on the laptop and head on the table. Grumbling about annoying beansprouts the elder placed his bag on the floor by Allen's chair before he gathered up the younger's things and carefully put them away. When the last thing left was the laptop Kanda hesitated for a moment, gaze caught on the sleeping face beside him. Was Allen really that tired? What was keeping him up so much that he was dead asleep in the café? Or was he one of those people who could fall asleep anywhere? More thoughts for later; for now, he had to wake up the beansprout.

"Moyashi, wake up." Kanda nudged his shoulder, but the younger only shuffled around and repositioned his head on his arms. At least he had moved off his laptop, so he packed that away too before trying again. "Get up Moyashi, I can't leave until you do."

"Mhm." Finally, he picked up his head, blinking as he looked around the empty café.

"It lives." Kanda muttered to himself in the most sardonic tone ever heard.

"What lives?" Allen asked drowsily, rubbing at his eyes. He blinked a few times rapidly, then apparently decided that didn't work and proceeded to pull off his ever-present gloves to rub at his eyes again.

As the gloves came off, Kanda felt his chest tighten, quickly averting his gaze from the younger boy. The older had been harassing Allen for months about his stupid gloves since he always got so riled up when they were mentioned, but it seemed he had a good reason for not taking them off after all.

Before the younger could realize Kanda was still standing there and had seen the burnt red skin of his left hand, he snagged the younger's jacket from the back of the chair and tossed it over him, "Get your jacket on, we're leaving."

"Oh, um, ok." Was the bleary response from the younger. Turning away Kanda occupied himself with getting his own jacket on and digging out his keys, but his inattention seemed to bring the oddity to the forefront of Allen's mind rather than drawing his attention away as evident by his next comment. "Sorry you had to see that."

The soft words made Kanda inexplicably angry and with a growl he whipped around to face the younger student.

"Don't talk like that." He fumed.

"Like what?" Allen was taken aback, but the confusion on his face was marred by a yawn, reminding the taller boy that this was not the time for that.

"Forget it." Kanda dismissed, slinging his satchel over his shoulder and snatching up the others backpack before he could reach it. "We'll talk about it another time."

"We?" Allen asked, and Kanda responded gruffly with "Later."

Seeming to accept that answer the younger pushed himself to his feet, teetering a bit before he caught the edge of the table to steady himself. As he was overtaken by yet another yawn Kanda took the opportunity to straighten Allen's jacket a bit and zip it up with one quick movement. Really, he was like a little kid, always needing to be looked after.

Wide silver eyes blinked up at him and rather than try and figure out why the beansprout looked so dumbfounded following that action, the elder grabbed his left hand.

"Let's go." He declared, ignoring the reflexive pull of the hand in his and leading the other towards the door. The younger probably wasn't used to people touching that limb once they knew what it looked like, but it's not like Kanda cared if his arm was a bit messed up.

A quick glance back showed the wide-eyed surprise he expected, but also a hint of something else, reluctance maybe or confusion, as he stared down at their clasped hands. Either way, Kanda wasn't going to bother to justify his actions or argue with the other about it, so he kept a tight hold of that hand even as he shut off the lights and locked the café behind them.

As Kanda pulled them around towards the car, Allen finally seemed to get his voice back. "You don't even know where I live." He pointed out while the elder fiddled with the car remote and a beep announced his car unlocking a few yards from them.

"Lavi texted me the address." Was his short explanation.

"How'd he know?" Allen pondered, and rather than deal with the continued mention of the red head, Kanda responded simply, "He texted to ask when you left." He wasn't going to explain the whole string of frantic and aggravating texts that Lavi had sent, about stranger danger and pedophiles and other ridiculous things that made him shut off his phone for the last hour of work to stop the aggravating vibrating. "He wouldn't shut up." He grumbled.

"He's a good friend." Allen said congenially, and a shadow crossed his face at his thoughts. Kanda paused after tossing the bags into the back seat, watching the change in emotions. His words and his expression didn't add up. Those two had been fine when they hung out in the café earlier this week, as had been their routine for the past few months. Did they have a fight?

Whatever, it wasn't his problem.

"Get in Moyashi." Kanda directed sliding into the drivers seat. The younger silently rounded the car and slid into the passenger seat as he turned the key and started the engine.

Kanda was never one for meaningless chit chat so he was satisfied the beansprout kept silent during the 10 minute drive.

The silence was only broken when Kanda turned on to Allen's street.

"You can drop me off anywhere over here." Allen said immediately after they turned on to the block, already reaching for his seat belt.

This wasn't the address Lavi texted him, but Kanda wasn't going to argue. Pulling over behind a random car and throwing it in park, the older boy looked through the windshield at the house numbers. From the text Lavi had sent he knew the beansprout lived half a block down, so why did he want to get dropped off so far away?

Whatever. Snagging his phone from the console Kanda occupied himself with texting the annoying red head so the other would stop with the insistent texts while Allen twisted to grab his bag from the back seat.

"Um," Glancing up from the screen the elder was met with uncertain silver eyes, Allen turned to face him, arm stretched behind him on the door. "Thanks for the ride Kanda." He said with a genuinely soft smile. The white-haired boy didn't wait for a reply before he opened the door and removed himself from the car.

Not that Kanda was going to respond, but couldn't the other at least have waited for a response. Maybe for once he would have said you're welcome. But the slam of the car door seemed final in a way, like a literal door closing on a figurative opportunity-and now his mind had switched over to thesis mode. Definitely time to get some sleep.

Reaching for the shift the movement was arrested by the vibrating of his cell phone. Looking down at the phone in his lap Kanda wasn't surprised to see the message was from Lavi. What did surprise him though was the message itself. " _Can you walk him to the door and make sure everything is ok_?"

What was he,5? Why the hell should Kanda do that?

Looking up Kanda quickly glanced around the street until he found the beansprout walking up the steps to a dark painted house down the block. Noting that the other already had his keys out he silently observed as he let himself in, the door closing behind him without incident. Nothing seemed wrong, so what was the red head so worried about?

The next text had the lithe student immediately emerging from his car and heading down the block.

" _I know you've seen the cuts and bruises._ "

Even with the amount of secrecy the younger teen employed daily, sometimes, you couldn't hide the evidence. Especially not when you had a nosy busybody like Lavi for a friend, or the perpetually worried Lenalee.

Though Kanda never asked, the red head was right-he did see.

Walking up the porch steps of the small two story house, he began to catch pieces of the conversation going on inside.

"…an order tomorrow. You'll do that first…" the words were hard to make out, but getting louder as Kanda got closer to the open window by the door.

"I'm not going back to that-" There was a bang that brought tense silence, broken only by the clinking of glass.

"And how else do you plan to pay off these debts?" The words were dangerously cold, a hint of smugness in the tone.

"They aren't my debts to pay." This was met with silence and Kanda inched closer to the door, finding himself inexorably drawn to the conversation inside.

At length, he could make out another clink of glass and the echo of heavy, measured footsteps crossing the room.

If Kanda hadn't had been standing so close to the window, he would have missed the biting, resentful words that followed. "These are your responsibility in return for all that I have done for you."

There is a breath of silence before Allen's frigid response sounded. "You have done nothing for me."

The reverberation of skin meeting skin resonated in the quiet of the night, as did the din that followed.

"Ungrateful brat." Calloused words were thrown out and footsteps moved away.

Unclenching his fists Kanda gritted his teeth as he raised a hand to the door, knocking hard three times.

"Moyashi, open the door." He commanded, not able to stand silently out on that porch and wait for the parties inside to decide whether to let him in. At least speaking up would let Allen know he was outside, and show that bastard that someone was listening.

"Don't answer that." was the swift directive from the older man, but the younger muttered something, followed by a shuffle of movement, before footsteps approached the door.

When the door swung back Kanda's gaze immediately fell on the red skin on the right of Allen's face.

"Lavi?" Allen asked shortly, his whole demeanor distant, inattentive, and the elder nodded stiffly, his hand itching to rise and soothe the skin of the others cheek.

"Who the fuck is this?" At the crass words Kanda wrestled down the urge, gaze moving past the moyashi to track down the one responsible for that mark.

Standing in the doorway he had a clear view of the small living room, the kitchen doorway, and a set of stairs leading up. The room before him was sparse, a leather couch set facing the door across from a TV, and a coffee table between covered in bottles and cans, most of which seemed to be empty. The most out of place thing was the guy standing by the coffee table who was taking a drag from a cigarette. Compared to the derelict look of the room, peeling wallpaper and splintered floors, he was immaculate in a white button down and black slacks, his hair almost shining in the weak glow of the overhead light.

He was a bit taller than Kanda, probably in his thirties, with red hair bushier than the rabbit's could ever be, hanging over half his face. That and the glasses he wore made it difficult to see his eyes, but Kanda could feel them running up and down, studying him.

"This is Kanda. From school." Allen explained shortly to the older man, his eyes on the floor rather than his guest or the person he was speaking to.

"Moyashi," Kanda began, wrestling his thoughts away from the violence he wanted to commit, to the kid standing before him, but he couldn't shrug off the feeling of the others eyes on him.

Without really considering the consequences, Kanda's hand reached out and gripped Allen by the arm, pulling him out on to the porch and out of sight of the older man.

The startled boy clenched Kanda's arm, and he wasn't sure if it was to steady himself from the sudden movement or seeking comfort, but he couldn't bring himself to pull away. "Moyashi?" he coaxed as silver eyes flashed back towards the door, a darker feeling evident in shimmering eyes. Kanda would call it fear, but he thought the beansprout was stronger than that. "Moyashi, who is that?" he asked in a low voice.

"My guardian, Cross." Was the hurried whispered explanation from the younger boy, whose gaze lingered on the doorway. After glancing over his shoulder to be sure they were still alone, Kanda gave in to the urge and ran his fingertips lightly over the other boy's red cheek.

"Did he hit you?" Kanda asked calmly.

Allen flinched back at the question, pulling himself away from the other boy, his gaze darting to the door again.

Letting his arm drop from where he had been holding the beansprouts arm, Kanda knew that he needed an answer before he could settle his thoughts enough.

Shifting to the side to block Allen's view of the house behind him, Kanda stepped forward.

Gracefully the elder boy slid his hand along Allen's jawline, fingers anchoring in white locks as he turned that gaze back to him.

"Allen," he began, but the question wouldn't fall from his lips a second time. The look in those silver eyes said enough; anger, pain, desperation, fear, self-loathing, all rolled together into that tumultuous look that he had once before.

In a blink silver eyes turned blue, and Kanda's breath caught in his throat; the scent of lotus blossoms teased his nose, autumn chill replaced by spring air swirling around him, the white-haired teenager changed in a breath and a younger boy stood before him, blue eyes full of that same riotous expression, even as he smiled and assured his best friend that he was okay.

"Boy, you two are just a pair of fags, aren't you?" the crass words weren't unexpected if Kanda was being honest with himself. And from the way Allen carefully extracted himself from his touch and schooled his face into a blank mask, this type of talk was probably all too common.

Turning, Kanda kept himself between Allen and the older man. Though his hands were clenched in anger at the older man's words, Kanda wasn't stupid enough to let his temper get the best of him when Allen would be the target.

"What do you want?" He snapped, glaring at man casually leaning against the doorway and puffing on his cigarette.

"You to leave. The boy and I have a conversation to finish."

Well, that wasn't happening. It wasn't his character to ignore someone in trouble- sure he didn't go out of his way to help a person, and he had no misplaced sense of justice here, but to hell would he stand by like he had last time. He owed that to Alma. But he didn't know what he could do.

"There isn't more to this conversation Master." Unexpected though the retort from the younger boy was, Kanda was more confused by this 'Master' stuff. Even so, he shifted to side as Allen stepped up beside him.

"What, you think you can walk away from this, boy?" Cross had a smug smirk on his lips as he drew his cigarette away, eyes blazing as they met his charges resolute gaze, "You can't just decide not to do this one day."

"I can, and I have." Allen challenged, stepping up and boldly meeting his guardians gaze.

Between one breath and the next a hand snapped out and snagged white locks, dragging the boy close as Cross' eyes narrowed and smirk dissolved into a scowl.

"You haven't done shit," Cross growled out, leaning in closer as Allen's hands scrabbled at his arm, trying to free himself. "Do you think standing up to me makes you a better person, like you could become a member of society without people always looking down on you?" Twisting his hand he drew a gasp of pain from the younger boy. "It won't."

"Enough." Kanda snapped, drawing Cross' attention momentarily before it returned to the silver eyed boy. Seemingly realizing how this looked Cross grinned humorlessly and dispassionately dropped his grasp on the white locks. The suddenness of the release caused Allen to stumble back, and Kanda was quick to throw out an arm to catch him. Casting a dirty look at Cross the white-haired boy accepted his friends help in steadying himself, a hand to his head which must have been aching from the rough treatment. Meanwhile the martial artist glowered at Cross, even as he tightened his grip around the younger boy and let his arm settle around Allen's waist.

Facing the steely glare of the older teen the red-haired man threw his hands up in a mollifying gesture, grinning ruefully as he placed his lit cigarette back between his lips.

Why was Allen still living with this guy? He was in college, so wasn't he old enough to get out of here and put this bastard out of his life? Why hadn't he done so? Why was he standing by and letting this happen?

Well Kanda wouldn't stand by and do nothing, not again.

"Moyashi," Kanda waited until the other looked up at him before continuing, "grab whatever you need for a few days."

"But Kanda-" those silver eyes widened in alarm, flashing to where the older man was standing before returning to sapphire.

He couldn't have that. It was like Allen was looking for permission from the man who had just abused him.

"Allen." Whether it was saying his name or the look they exchanged the elder didn't know but he was satisfied all the same when the younger didn't look away again. At length, the younger boy nodded and Kanda took that as his cue to give him space. Dropping his arm, he glanced at the suspiciously quiet guardian only to find the doorway empty of red-heads.

Uncomfortable with not knowing where the older man was Kanda accompanied Allen into the house, leaving the door open behind him. They weren't staying long after all.

Inside the elder man had returned to his perch on the couch, taking a swig from one of the bottles of liquor before him. His brown eyes followed the two of them as they headed for the stairs to the second level and Kanda paused before he reached the steps. Catching the youngers attention with a hand to his wrist he said simply, "I'll wait here. Be quick," before dropping his grip.

With a quick glance between the two of them Allen acknowledged this with a quick nod before he swiftly disappeared up the stairs.

"He's not going to leave with you." Cross said stoically, eyes following the younger boy's departure as he lit up another cigarette.

"He is." Kanda said simply, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall near the bottom of the stairs, not moving his sapphire gaze from the older man.

"He has a job to do." The red head said impassively, blowing out a line of smoke as he tiled his head back.

"Do it yourself, he's leaving with me." Kanda bit out,

Cold sapphire met narrowed brown as the elder sits up straight, impassive gaze sweeping over him. At length the older man's nonchalant expression settled into a look that radiated superiority.

"Do you imagine yourself as his savior?" Cross queried as he drew the cigarette away from his lips, a sneer revealed from behind smoking lips.

Kanda didn't answer and that sneer morphed into an amused smirk.

"Do you think he deserves to be saved?" he asked lowly, eyes glinting from behind narrow lenses.

In the silence the closing of a door upstairs was evident, and Kanda glanced towards the stairs as footsteps echoed above their heads.

"You don't know anything about that brat," those words drew Kanda's attention right back to the older man, and he fought to keep a stoic look on his face else he figured out how true this was, "you should leave and forget all of this."

Dark eyes moved beyond the ponytailed boy, and from the corner of his eye Kanda caught a glimpse of white hair.

Reaching the bottom of the steps Allen stopped before him, duffle bag held in one hand, school bag over the other.

"Um, I'm all set." Allen prevaricated, glancing uncertainly at his guardian before turning his attention to Kanda. "We should get going?" he said, but it was more of a question as he seemed to sense the tension in the air.

The ponytailed boy nodded, silently leading the way to the door.

"Does your friend here know that you killed Mana?" A sharp intake of breath from the younger, stumbling feet, and Kanda tensed up, twisting around to face the older man. Cross was settled back against the cushions with a half empty bottle of liquor in hand, his cigarette almost burned to the filter between his self-satisfied grinning teeth.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" the ponytailed martial artist's voice rumbled, the words drawn out in his question, his glare softening only slightly as he looked to Allen for an answer. Allen, who was hugging his duffle bag close to him, shivering silver eyes meeting sapphire as teeth worrying at thin lips. "Don't listen to him, please," he pleaded, voice hitching on the words as they scraped past his throat, "Let's just go." Apprehensive and begging he reached out to the elder boy, gripping his left sleeve with his right hand.

Grabbing the offending wrist, intending to escape that grip, the elder boy froze; Allen's hands were trembling.

"Moyashi," before he could begin to formulate his scattered thoughts into words, Cross spoke up.

"You will always be that _dirty, uncouth, ungrateful,_ orphan that killed his father, and pretending otherwise is useless, boy."

The white haired boy dropped his head, but not before Kanda saw the beginning of tears building up in his eyes, and he couldn't help but feel each flinch Allen gave at the adjectives Cross spouted, his grip tightening on the cloth of Kanda's sleeve.

If not for the hand holding onto him like a lifeline, the elder boy would have crossed the room and earned himself another assault charge. Instead he wrapped his hand more securely around the wrist in his hold and began to pull the beansprout towards the door again.

"Let's go." He snapped. His only response from Allen was a surprised squeak but when the other didn't pull away or object Kanda accepted that he was ok with the decision.

"When society gives up on you, don't come crawling back to me." Cross called out as they stepped onto the porch.

Even though he wanted to retort, Kanda slammed the door closed before more could be said. He wouldn't give that bastard the satisfaction of knowing anymore about the effect of his words.

Silently the ponytailed boy led the way back to his car, not letting go of Allen's arm until he had to dig out his keys.

"Kanda," Allen began, but the elder cut him off.

"Just get in the car." He bit out, sliding into the driver's seat and pounding the key into the ignition.

The beansprout does as he said in silence, throwing his duffle bag and school bag into the backseat before climbing in.

As soon as the car set off down the street Kanda expected the younger teen to try and speak again. But thankfully he was silent and the elder descended into his own thoughts.

Whatever he may have thought was going on, it was a whole new thing to be witness to the abuse Allen faced. Lavi may have just wanted to be sure the younger kid was all right, but now Kanda was involved and he really didn't want to be. Sure he may have drunkenly confessed to Lavi that he was worried about Allen once, but that was one time, and he was drunk so it wasn't really how he felt. Right?

Ugh.

And now he was bringing the beansprout back to the dorm with him. Sure he didn't have a roommate to worry about, but it wasn't a long-term fix. Or was it? Could he put up with Allen long term if the younger moved in to the dorm with him? But that would involve paying the room and board fees, did Allen have that kind of money?

Whatever, that wasn't his problem. None of this was his problem. Why the hell had he gotten involved?

In amidst all this musing Kanda cast a secretive glance towards his passenger. The kid wasn't asleep like he thought he would be; as exhausted as the beansprout was, he should have fallen back to sleep easily. Probably because he was all tense.

Should he say something to calm the kid down? Wait, no, he was Kanda fucking Yuu, he wasn't nice.

Maybe Lavi would know what he could say- fuck forget that, he wasn't asking that stupid rabbit for any conversational help. Though the least the other teen could do was take the blame for this whole situation blowing up. If he hadn't skipped out of his shift today Kanda never would have had to bring the beansprout home and he wouldn't have gotten involved in any of this shit.

Though he couldn't imagine what Lavi would have done if he had been there- the red head may have been smart, but obviously, he was against stepping in, since he seemed to know enough to warn Kanda to go to the door tonight.

"Kanda," musings interrupted by the beansprout, Kanda gave a quick glance to show he was listening but said nothing of what he was thinking, "Thank you, for this." Allen said, slightly awkwardly motioning to the car and themselves before dropping his hand heavily into his lap.

"This what?" Kanda groused, trying not to get mad at the beansprout for being so vague- it was late, they were both tired, there was going to be some miscommunication.

"For the ride, and not listening to Cross."

"Who said I wasn't listening?" Kanda questioned, and isn't surprised when he can feel the tension radiating off Allen at those words, "You have a lot of questions to answer moyashi."

"What do you want to know?" Allen asked, slumping back into the seat in a dejected manner.

Well, if he was going to answer questions…

"Who is Mana?" He asked immediately. Of all the things he had seen and heard tonight, this was the one thing he didn't understand.

"My foster father." Allen answered tersely, and anyone else probably would have stopped there, but Kanda wasn't, not when it affected the beansprout so badly that he had been trembling. Not even the slap had made him tremble or cry, but one mention of this man and it was like all of Allen's walls had come down.

"Why did Cross say you killed him?"

"None of your business." Was the quick answer from the younger boy.

Scowling Kanda shot a glare at the white-haired boy, "Like hell Moyashi, I helped you out-"

"I never asked you too!" Allen yelled, slamming a hand against the dash.

"Do you prefer to be getting beat right now?" Kanda snapped back.

"Master wouldn't beat me." Allen muttered as he crossed his arms, turning his back on Kanda as well as he could with the seatbelt hindering his movements.

That sounded like a blatant lie.

"What the hell is with that Master crap anyway?" was his next question, not failing to notice that the beansprout had successfully moved the conversation beyond his foster father. Not that Kanda would forget it.

"He prefers that to me calling him by his first name, or calling him uncle or something ridiculous like that." Allen said, still scowling out the window but at least relaxing his arms, waving the topic away easily.

"And you don't think it's ridiculous to call him Master, like you're his slave."

The younger didn't answer and surprised he didn't rise to the taunt Kanda glanced over to see his fists clenched and shaking where they sat in his lap.

Well whatever. Maybe the kid was really a masochist, Kanda wouldn't judge, but he also wouldn't condone Allen letting himself be beat for no reason.

Double checking the traffic he slowed the car down and turned off onto one of the quiet streets that bordered the school dorms.

A sudden thought struck Kanda and he subconsciously eased up on the gas; what if Allen thought he deserved to be beat for whatever had happened with his foster father? He had enough of a martyr complex for it to be a possibility. God, he really was like some teen novel.

A quick glance at the younger showed him still scowling and glaring out the window,

"Allen," the elder waited until he was sure he had the others attention, meeting his steely glare with his own calm sapphire gaze, "Do you think you deserve to be beaten?" silver eyes widened and breath caught, but when Allen didn't speak immediately Kanda continued, "Is that why you didn't move out of there?"

At length, Allen replied, words colder than ice, "You don't know what you are talking about."

Then between one tick of the clock and the next, the moyashi _jumped out of the fucking car_.

"Fucking shit!" Kanda slammed on the brakes before throwing the car in park and forcing open his door. Stomping around the back of the car he saw the moyashi peeling himself off the pavement about 50 feet down the road.

"What the fucking hell do you think you are doing?" Kanda cursed as he strode down the road, "If you are so suicidal could you not get me involved in your fucking shitty attempts on your life." he ranted.

Meanwhile the white-haired kid had gotten to his hands and knees but no farther, chest heaving. As he got closer Kanda took a precursory synopsis of the beansprouts condition, satisfied when there was a distinct lack of bleeding or missing limbs. The kid deserved whatever fucking scratches he earned from that stunt. So he said as much.

"Shut the fuck up!" Allen finally snapped, glaring up at Kanda. For a moment the older boy was floored, not having heard the polite kid swear before. But then he growled and stalked closer, grabbing the kid by the collar and lifting him to his feet.

"I asked you what the fuck is your problem." Kanda said menacingly, voice low as he pulled the kid close.

Quicker than he thought the kid could move, Allen threw a punch at his face. Though he avoided it, Kanda also let go of Allen's shirt in the process and the younger took the chance to put space between them.

"You're my fucking problem, all right." The white-haired kid bit out, rubbing unconsciously at his hand with a wince, "You and Lavi and anyone else who gets fucking involved in my life and fucking twists it to whatever stupid preconceived notions you have, and think you have to help me or save me or-"

Stopping his rant before the kid really got started, Kanda said coldly "If you didn't want to be saved, why did you get in my car?"

That seemed to floor the younger boy and for a moment he stared at him, open mouthed.

But they didn't get long to stand there as headlights washed over them and the approaching car halted, the driver obviously leaning on his horn.

"Fuck you too asshole!" Kanda flipped the guy off before stalking over to the still frozen teen. Without another word, he grabbed Allen by the upper arm and dragged him back to the car, stuffing him in the passenger seat and slamming the door before getting in himself.

Before he even took the car out of park Kanda hit the door lock button and locked the buttons for the passenger side, already anticipating that the kid would try to get out as soon as he came out of his shock.

There was a tense silence in the car now as Kanda started off down the road, flipping the other driver off one more time for good measure before heading down a new road and onwards.

The silence was only broken when they reached the dorm parking lot a few minutes later and the car rolled to a stop. Neither make a move to get out, but Allen finally spoke.

"I don't know why I got in your car Kanda." He said softly, his voice showing all his uncertainty, and how lost he was in this situation.

Heaving a sigh, which was a very un-Kanda like action, the older pushed a button and the doors unlocked with a resounding click that made Allen jump and look at him.

"Figure it out later Moyashi, it's too early for that introspective crap."

"Late, you mean." The comeback was given with a weak, but still cheeky, grin. Kanda growled at this and swiftly climbed out of his car, slamming the door behind him. He wasn't going to let the brat see how relieved he was to hear him bantering like everything was still normal.

Keeping his back to the other the ponytailed boy waited until he heard the closing of the passenger door before he walked off, beating a path towards his dorm building.

Kanda was glad for the silence as the other followed after him. Now that his bed was in sight, figuratively, all his exhaustion was weighing on him.

Seemed Allen wasn't immune to the fatigue either; as Kanda worked on unlocking his door the other leaned against the wall with a yawn, eyes fluttering closed.

A quick glance at the other and in the faint light of the hallway Kanda could make out the rips in his jeans and long sleeved shirt. There didn't seem to be that much blood, but he couldn't help himself from asking, "Do I need to dig out my first aid kit?" The question was said in a low tone that Kanda would swear up and down wasn't embarrassed, and if Allen missed it well too bad for him, but Kanda was not repeating himself-

"No, just some small scrapes, soap and water will be fine." Allen said tiredly, another yawn punctuating that statement.

"Good," Kanda popped open his door and habitually flicked the light as he stepped in, "I'm not having you bleed all over my comforter."

Sputtering, Kanda could practically feel the heat from Allen's cheeks as he blushed, obviously mistaking Kanda's words. Whatever, he didn't need to explain himself. Though it was amusing that he obviously imagined them sharing a bed.

Concentrating on emptying his pockets and digging out some pajama pants, Kanda didn't fail to notice how the other studied the room, gaze caught on the sparsity of the decorations on the right and obviously unused left side of the room.

"Yuu, do you," Allen paused, looking around the room again, hurriedly continuing when Kanda turned a glare his way, in no mood to wait for him to get to his point, "You don't have a roommate?"

"No." The older boy said shortly, and Allen seemed to figure that was enough of an explanation for why right there cause he didn't ask. Thankfully.

Glad to not be faced with an inquisition about his room, Kanda proceeded to get ready for bed, entering the adjoining bathroom. His preparations were swift and when he returned Allen was still looking around the room, though he had at least tucked his stuff under the other bed and apparently dug out his own set of pj's. He seemed to have forgotten he was supposed to be changing though, holding the sweatpants and t-shirt as he approached Kanda's desk. So much for giving him the privacy to change that way.

Digging through one of the bins under his bed, Kanda pulled out his other comforter set and extra pillow. "Oi, moyashi," rather than wait for the inevitable questions about the katana hanging on the wall, or the jokes about the Japanese style tea set on his desk, Kanda distracted the brat by throwing a comforter and sheets at him. "Put these on the bed."

"What the-" Allen just managed to bite back the curses as he finally freed his head and looked down at the black comforter in his hands. Before he could say more a pillow bounced off of his face and to the floor.

"Be glad I'm giving you this much brat." Kanda muttered as he fussed with his covers, pulling them back before concentrating on plugging his phone in and setting his alarm. He still had classes in the morning, and work in the afternoon. Even after all this he wouldn't let himself sleep in, just wasn't in his character.

Ignoring the ruffling that was evident of the other setting up his bed, the martial artist occupied himself with his nightly rituals. After a day like today, he especially needed to meditate before he could fall asleep, and surprisingly the moyashi was being quiet enough that he could settle into his mediation easily.

It wasn't until Kanda had shut the light off and climbed into bed himself that the beansprout spoke up. Honestly he had been hoping Allen had fallen asleep, but guess not.

"Hey Kanda." In the dark the rustling of blankets and creak of the mattress as Allen turned over was highly audible, and almost as telling as the eyes Kanda could feel studying him through the darkness.

"What?" he asked judiciously, too tired to be angry or sullen now.

"Thank you." Was the quiet response.

Kanda didn't want his thanks, he wanted answers.

"Why do you let him treat you like that?"

There was silence for a long moment, and through it Kanda watched silently in the slight light from the hallway as the other propped himself up on his elbows, gazing into the darkness of the room. It wasn't until after he settled back under the blankets that Allen answered the question.

"Cross isn't always like that."

Bullshit. Sitting up Kanda glared across the room, "Don't defend him," He snarled, "Not when he treats you like that."

A hitch of breath had Kanda feeling like a jerk; it sounded like Allen was crying now, and it wasn't his guardian's behavior or words, but _Kanda_ who caused it.

Before Kanda could decide whether he should apologize, the white-haired boy finally responded.

"He's all I have." The words were said with such distress that Kanda knew there was little he could say that would help the situation.

Maybe he'd get Lenalee to talk to the moyashi about this. Whatever. That wasn't a problem for right now, he would deal with this later.

"Go to sleep moyashi." He ordered, lying down and pulling his blankets over him.

Clearing his throat, the other argued, "It's Allen, Bakanda."

"Sleep. Now."

There was a muffled snicker, which Kanda decided to ignore for his own pride, and he turned over and settled down to sleep.

Maybe he didn't know how to make the situation better, and maybe he had made things a little worse by angering his guardian, but he couldn't regret helping Allen out. He'd never regret getting closer to the scarred boy.


End file.
